A considerable number and variety of minor forest products are collected by the villagers although such collection is prohibited. The only activity permitted to a limited degree is kitul taping.

                             Of the activities engaged in by the villager, the one that poses a serious threat is the collection of rattan or cane. This too like timber extraction is manipulated by unscrupulous merchants. The manufacture of rattan products is an island-wide craft, and the demand for raw cane in areas outside the sinharaja where it is scarce has dramatically increased its illicit collection.

                             The method employed for the removal of rattan from its natural habitat is also very wasteful. The more accessible lower portion of the climber is cut, and this results in the still utilizable upper section withering and dying on the supporting tree. There is also overexploitation of the younger plants. which too could soon lead to the complete eradication of this resource.

                             There is still a small population of mature climbers of the large diameter rattan growing within the immediate vicinity of the Field Research Station. Their value cannot be over-emphasised especially as they are now the sole source of seeds for the large propagation programme currently established in the Sinharaja.

                             The seasonal collections of other plants products such as wild cardamom, resins, medicinal plants, edible fruits, mushrooms ect. create very little disturbance. Sometimes however such activities could be detrimental as in the case of the collections of bark from Nawada (Shorea stipularis) and Hal (Vateria coppalifera) to be used as an inhibitor in the fermentation of kitul sap. These trees are often debarked to such an extent that they die as a result of this practice.